Brothers Then, Brothers Now
by S. T. Nickolian
Summary: Sasuke is coming back to Konoha. What is making him come back if Itachi is still alive? No Yaoi or incest.
1. Chapter 1

Brothers Then, Brothers Now

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, any of its characters, and anything and everything in between.

Sasuke gathered his things. He didn't care how much that snake tried to hole him in Oto anymore, he was going back home, to Konoha. He winced as he thought of how he had treated his old comrades the last time he saw them, especially Naruto and Sakura. He had put the chidori through his best friend's chest and said one of the meanest things he could think of to the girl who loved him.

The Uchiha sighed and slung the bag over his shoulders, looking around the room with disgust. Orochimaru had done everything in his power to make him comfortable, but the more he tried to 'help' the prodigy, the more Sasuke felt sick every time he walked through the door.

Making sure he had everything he cared to bring, he silently crept out of the fortress. _I hate this place; I can't wait to hear about it being burned to down once I get back to Konoha._ He smirked at the thought as he dodged past some guards and ran through the surrounding forest. _Good-bye, you bastards; I'll be sure to give your regards to Tsunade-sama, as well as your current location._

The Uchiha sat at the bar in some village he didn't bather to get the name of; it was on the way home and that was all that mattered.

He took a sip of sake, trying to ignore all the lust-filled glances cast his way by the female population gathered in the room. His eyes shot open and he nearly chocked as a voice rang through the air, however.

"Ite! Sakura-chan, what was that for?!" He glanced behind him to see bright orange and black beside red and pink.

"Baka!" Sasuke laid some money on the bar before standing up and approaching the pair Konoha nin, famous smirk in place.

"Get yourself into trouble again, dope?" He watched in amusement as the blonde's eyes widened and he began pointing his finger at him.

"You! What are you doing here, teme?!" Though he was yelling in a semi-aggressive manner, Sasuke could see the corners of Naruto's lips being tugged up slightly. "Are you ready to come home yet?"

Sasuke truly smiled then, part in amusement, part in relief for still being accepted by them, and nodded his head before turning to Sakura. They started at each other for a moment before the kunoichi smiled brightly. "What? No 'Hi, how are you, Sakura?'"

The Uchiha smirked again and decided to humor her. "Hello, Sakura, how are you?"

The three of them laughed, not feeling as if three years had passed, earning them several odd looks from the people around them. "Ne, teme." Sasuke sobered, still chuckling slightly, and turned to give his blonde teammate his attention, though part of his mind was firmly fixed on the kunoichi at his side. "What made you come back all of a sudden?"

A small smile crept over the Uchiha's face as he answered. "I don't have any reason for revenge anymore."

Sakura gasped slightly. "Itachi is dead?" The Kyuubi container just blinked in surprise then gaped in open shock as Sasuke laughed. Both of his former teammates glanced at each other, not sure if they should smile at his change, or back away in alarm.

Sasuke sobered, though he was amused at their reactions. "No, Nii-san isn't dead." Seeing the quizzical expressions, he rolled his eyes and explained. "I got a letter, delivered by one of Deidara's clay birds, explaining what happened, all those years ago." A distant, closed look come to the Uchiha's eyes, letting his companions know that the topic wasn't up for discussion.

Sakura smiled again. "Why don't we head back home instead of standing around here being stared at?" Naruto turned to glare at whoever met his eyes before clapping a hand on his best friend's shoulder, bringing him out of his stupor.

Sasuke smirked again. "Aa; let's go."

That night, the three camped out in the wilderness, just like when they were genins, minus Kakashi. Sasuke stood watch, determined to keep his friends safe from now on. Sensing nothing for several miles, he took a scroll out of his bag and sat by the fire.

Opening it, he smiled at the familiar handwriting that he had memorized years before.

_Sasuke,_

_Gomen nazai. The clan had planned to kill you in order to fulfill some prophecy that was made at your birth, so I did… that to protect you._

_As for why I left after saying those things to you, if was because I had to discourage you from wanting to follow me, and I had to make you grow stronger some how. I did not wish to drive you to a monster that wishes to destroy you._

_If you continue to wish to kill me, your best chance at getting strong enough to do so would be to return to Konoha to train with Naruto and other powerful ninja there; Orochimaru never was nor ever will be strong enough to come close to defeating me._

_Whether you choose to believe me what I have told you or not is your choice, but I will continue to watch over you._

_Farewell for now, Sasuke._

The letter revealed the man Sasuke remembered from before the massacre, and this was the person he would always believe; Naruto and Sakura were just below the missing-nin in Sasuke's trust, but now many others would ever come close.

Sasuke rolled the scroll up and put it in his bag. It was now his most precious possession, and the fore-head protector that he hoped to receive would follow shortly after.

Watching his companions sleep, he smiled again. (AN: He's doing that a lot; I guess the happy child within him is starting to surface now that he isn't bent on revenge and hate.)

_I'm not making that mistake again; I'll protect the people around me with my life._ He looked to the sky. _ Including you, Itachi-nii-san._

Three men wearing plain black cloaks stood on a hill a short distance away, being extremely careful to mask their chakres. One had ebony hair pulled back in a low ponytail, another had long blonde hair, most of it up in a high ponytail while the rest fell over his face, and the last had short red hair.

"I know you want to watch over your kid brother, Itachi, but we need to move, yeah." The blonde looked to their apparent leader, while Itachi just stared in the direction of the three Konoha nins, and sighed.

"I agree with Deidara, Itachi; Akatsuki will be after us soon, after all, we did kill Kisame and abandon the organization." The red head glanced at the Sharingan-user, slightly afraid of the ex-ANBU, even if they were working together.

"Calm yourself, Sasori; we will be leaving shortly." After another minute, Itachi turned and walked in the opposite direction of the young nin, knowing that the other two would follow.

_Hopefully, one day, we will be able to rebuild the clan into something better that what our ancestors made it. Until then, otouto._

AN: Sorry for the vague descriptions, I don't know the Akatsuki very well.

I wrote this after I watched a really sad AMV for Sasuke, and I just wanted to come up with some reason for Itachi's actions, well… other than the obvious.

I hope this isn't too bad. Review with your thoughts please!


	2. Chapter 2

Brothers Then, Brothers Now II

Disclaimer: Hmmm….. What would I do IF I owned this?... Sasuke wouldn't be such a bastard, Itachi would end up being a good guy, and Sakura would realize how much Naruto loves her. But, alas, I do not own Naruto. Sad, isn't it? God dammit, what a drag…..

* * *

Sasuke glared at Kakashi, who was three hours late for their first training session as a team, though he wasn't sure if his old sensei even knew he was back yet. He had already tried to give an excuse, but was shot down by the other two genins. The Uchiha shook his head and went up to greet the scarecrow, a smirk growing on his face as he remembered that Kakashi hadn't been told, yet.

It was the fist day that Team 7 would be training together again since Sasuke returned and nothing seemed to be able to keep the genins high spirits down for long, especially Naruto. When the blonde had learned that his best friend wasn't even on probation because of the information he had provided on Sound's strengths and weaknesses, he had glomped the Godaime, not even bothering to call her 'obaa-san' like he normally would have.

When Kakashi saw him approaching, he looked shocked a moment then smiled. The genins saw a glimpse of water gathered on their sensei's eyelashes, but they merely smiled and kept their mouths shut; they knew how much the Copy Nin had blamed himself for Sasuke's betrayal and that this was like a dream come true to him. "Welcome home, Sasuke."

"It's good to be home." There was a smile on everyone's faces as they stood together, basking in the feeling of being complete for the first time since the genins had all gone to the separate teachers to train.

"Well, let's get training; we need to be ready when Orochi-teme comes to claim teme." The Uchiha smirked and turned to follow his blonde teammate as he bounded off. Kakashi followed closer to Konaha's most surprising and hyperactive jinchuuriki.

Sasuke stopped at the edge of the bridge that was Team 7's usual meeting place and turned back. "You coming, Sakura?" She seemed to snap out of a daze and turned to him.

"This… isn't a dream, is it?" Her face was filled with hope, but there was doubt there too. The Uchiha sighed and walked back up to her, knowing that she felt that this was too good to be true; sometimes he felt that way too. Remembering the many times his brother would do this to him whenever he asked him to help him train, Sasuke mimicked his brother's fleck to the forehead with a smirk.

At her stunned look, his smirk grew. "I guess not." He watched a smile begin to grow on her face and turned to catch up with Naruto and Kakashi. "If you don't hurry up, we'll leave you behind."

The kunoichi ran to follow him, and he tried to suppress his growing smile. _Damn it's good to be home.

* * *

_

"Either you guys have gotten five times as strong as I thought, or Orochi-teme is actually a lot weaker than I thought." Everyone laughed as Sasuke adopted the nickname Naruto gave the snake and took them on a three-to-one spar to see how much he had learned. He wasn't doing too badly, but they were still doing better.

The genins all collapsed while Kakashi looked winded. Soon, Naruto was laughing for no apparent reason, but, rather than looking at him as if he was crazy, the other soon found themselves joining in. Sasuke found that he was enjoying others company for the first time in a long time. _At Sound, I never wanted to be around anyone, but here…_ The Uchiha looked at his team, all laughing and just being happy. _I want to stay with them as long as I can, if only to sit here and do absolutely nothing._

"Ne, do you guys want to go out for ramen? My treat." Naruto looked to his teammates, hoping that they would agree.

Sasuke smirked but shook his head lightly. "How about tomorrow, dope? I'm going to train a little more tonight." The others smiled and nodded before leaving to go their separate homes. Just as he said, Sasuke began to train more on his own, though he missed the company of his team. He spent most of his time trying to increase the amount of times he could use the chidori in a day.

He smiled softly as he trained, remembering all the times he had used this particular attack. The only time the Uchiha regretted having Kakashi teach him the chidori was when he fought Naruto at the Valley of the End, and when he had attacked Itachi, though that was only partly regrettable since he was protecting his best friend, in a round about way.

After over an hour, Sasuke fell to the ground, worn out. He was chuckling, though. "Up to nine times a day; better than the snake could try to get me to do…" Darkness began to swallow him up, but he felt himself being picked up and saw a Sharingan. Memories of his brother carrying him home after training flashed through his mind. "Nii-san…"

Kakashi blinked in surprise. Now _that_ wasn't something he had expected the Uchiha to say. As he carried the boy back to the Uchiha district, he couldn't help but feel as if someone was watching him, almost thankfully but enviously it seemed.

Shrugging it off for now but still on edge, he continued on his way.

* * *

Sasuke woke up slowly, not really comprehending his surroundings. He was on his futon and had apparently been tucked in by someone. He glanced at the blanket covering him and a memory flashed through his mind of when he had been sick as a child and Itachi had watched over him since both their parents had been out. _Nii-san did everything for me that day…_

The smell of breakfast cooking drifted to him from the kitchen, bringing him back to reality. He sprang form his bed and walked… okay, ran to the door to the kitchen. _Nii-san…_

He stopped just before he opened the door and stood still, listening. Muffled voices came through the door, but his hopes fell as it became apparent that none of them were the former Akatsuki member. He stood still and listened to his teammates anyway.

"So…" His blonde companion's surprisingly soft voice floated through the door. "Are we going to be a team again, Kakashi-sensei?" So he knew that two of his 'family members' were here, but was the third?

"Well, since the three of you have been training so much, you still have to pass the Chuunin exams, and you need a team for that." His lazy sensei sounded cheerful, and he could feel Naruto's smile, which was mimicking his own, through the door. "Is breakfast ready yet, Sakura? Sasuke should be waking up soon."

"Hai, sensei." The Uchiha shook his head a little to get rid of the lost feeling he got when he learned that Itachi wasn'tthere and took a quick glance in the mirror before opening the shoji door. "Sasuke! You're just in time!" Sasuke could feel the happiness radiating from his team and couldn't hide the small smile that crept across his face.

_Why the hell did I leave again? It's too…comfortable here to even think about it._ A conversation came up between the others, and he listened, judging the changes that each of them had undergone without him.

Sakura was stronger, not only physically, but emotionally as well. She wasn't as clingy to him as before which was a definite plus, but he could see that she still held some feelings for him. He vaguely wondered if Lee was still as interested in her as he had been before.

Naruto was still outspoken, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut and wasn't as loud, though that could easily change. He was still confident, but now he had the power to back that up, and he never went back on his word. The jinchuuriki still flirted with his kunoichi teammate, but it was out of habit more than real feelings now, and it often led to him being hit upside the head.

Kakashi had changed the lease in the time that had passed. He still read Jiraiya's porn and was still lazy.

Breakfast came and went, but no one made a move to get up and leave the peace that surrounded them. After nearly an hour of simply chatting, Sasuke stood, drawing the attention of his teammates and sensei. "I'm going to get dressed; we have to report to Godaime-sama sometime, right?"

The others blinked owlishly before Naruto grinned, pulling his hand back to scratch the back of his head. "I guess we've all followed in sensei's footsteps for today, ne?" This earned a laugh from Sakura, a smirk from Sasuke, and an upside down u in place of Kakashi's eye, indicating his smile.

The Uchiha returned to his bedroom and closed the door behind him, leaning against it slightly. _Maybe Nii-san isn't here, but I can still be with my team, and maybe we'll run into some of the others, as long as Ino doesn't fling herself at me like back then._ He shook his head, smiling at the old memories and began to get dressed.

Fifteen minutes later found Team 7 in the Hokage's office, being scolded by the Godaime for picking up bad habits from their sensei, who was in a conversation with the self-proclaimed super pervert, most likely discussing a new idea for 'Ero-sennin's' newest 'work of art.'

Tsunade sighed and looked them over, a small smile on her face as she viewed Konoha's next three sannins. "Well, we don't have any missions for today, so you four can go catch up with the others, and Kakashi! Quit giving him anymore perverted ideas! He's perverted enough for all of us as it is…" Kakashi had the decency to blush a little while Jiraiya just grinned lecherously.

Sasuke smiled a little in gratitude at the woman before following the others. "Come on; we usually meet at the training grounds we took the bell test on when we don't have missions." Naruto took off, jumping for roof to roof. Sasuke smirked and took the unspoken challenge to see who could get there faster.

For the rest of Konoha to see, there were two blurs racing through the village, one bright orange and the other dark enough to be black. The two boys were smirking and were neck and neck before the Uchiha suddenly veered off course. Naruto nearly stumbled but kept going, wondering if Sasuke knew something he didn't.

The jinchuuriki landed on the edge of the training grounds and began looking for his friend, all the while grinning widely at his victory. He face-faulted when he heard a voice ring out loudly from where the others were gathered. "YOSH! YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH HAVE BROUGHT YOU BACK TO THE SIDE WHERE YOUTH SHINES BRIGHTEST, SASUKE-SAN!" (AN: Now who on _Earth_ could that be?)

Sasuke simply smirked in reply and nodded a greeting to the others, taking note of who was present. Lee was giving him the nice guy pose while Neji and Ten-ten smiled at him before returning to their conversation. Sasuke couldn't help but notice how Ten-ten would blush at a few things Neji would say. _I never figured Hyuuga Neji to be the type to make girls blush._

Hinata gave him a warm but shy smile before going to calm down Naruto, who was raving about how he must have cheated. Kiba gave him a slap on the back and a smirk after telling him that if he ever ran off again, he and Akamaru weren't going to risk their lives to go after him again. Sasuke mumbled an apology but smirked as the dog began whining for attention. Shino gave him a nod of acknowledgment, which was returned, before going back into a meditative state to 'talk' to his bugs.

Chouji _tried_ to say hi to him through all of the potato chips that he was eating, but he failed miserably, earning him a light whack on the shoulder from Ino. The Yamanaka had given him a quick hug before going back to her big-boned teammate. _Well, that could've been worse, but I'm not going to push it._

He learned later that Shikamaru was stationed in Suna with the Sand Siblings, or, more specifically, Temari.

The Rookie 9 and Team Gai spent most of the day together before they split up in the evening. It was then that Team 7 and Kakashi made good on Naruto's offer from the night before.

* * *

Sasuke walked back out to the training grounds, his footsteps the only sounds in the peaceful night. The day had gone really well considering how he went to Orochimaru and back; the others took his coming back very well, especially Lee, who was begging him for a spar.

He had learned at dinner that Kakashi was the one who took him home, but his sensei had mentioned feeling like he was being watched. The Uchiha had laughed and said that Sound was too chicken to come with a ticked off Orochi-teme, who was no doubt going to be ticked off.

He never mentioned, however, that he hoped that it had been his brother. Sasuke sighed a little as he reached the grounds and immediately began attacking a tree. He wanted to be able to help his nii-san if he ever needed it.

Around midnight, the Uchiha was still training when he heard something in the forest behind him. Whirling around with a kunai in hand, Sasuke found himself facing a blonde, a redhead, and someone with black hair and red eyes. The blonde was grinning widely, reminding him of Naruto, while the redhead just smiled a little. The last one seemed indifferent, but his eyes were smiling.

Sasuke slowly lowered his kunai. "Nii-san?" Itachi smirked slightly and nodded. The younger Uchiha felt a joy and peace running through his veins that he hadn't felt in a long time, even with his team, although that came very close. "You two must be Sasori and Deidara." Seeing their affirmative nods, he smiled, happy to have some more friends, and that his brother was home. "Since you've come to me, I'm guessing that you three need a place to stay."

Itachi smirked, deciding to tease his otouto a little bit. "Well, that too, but the main reason is to make sure you don't work yourself to death, that's our job." Sasuke played along and pouted a little, causing all three missing-nin to laugh.

Sasuke smiled and turned around, motioning for them to follow. "The only ones that will come to the Uchiha District are the three others on my team since we're getting ready for the chuunin exams and the inevitable attack from Orochimaru."

The former Akatsuki members nodded in understanding as they followed him through the streets of Konoha, being sure to stay in the shadows to remain unseen. They arrived at the Uchiha District without any problems and became comfortable in the house Sasuke lived in.

"Nice place, yeah." Sasori immediately scoped out a room where he could work on his puppets in peace while Deidara began thinking of ways to brighten the house up a little. "I'm going to like it here, yeah."

Sasuke smiled and shook his lead a little eat his brother's friends and turned to see if Itachi needed anything. He found his brother fazing in the direction of their parents' old room with veiled disgust and remorse. The younger Uchiha smiled sympathetically and pulled him in the opposite direction. "Come on; our rooms are this way."

Itachi looked at his younger brother as he continued to drag him away. Sasuke had been the thing that kept him going while he was pressed to meet so many expectation, and when he had overheard the others talking about the sacrifice, he had lost it. He had been hurt and betrayed when he found out that even Shisui was in on it, too, but he never showed it.

Now, he was back with his brother who he had tried to protect for so long. When he had heard that Sasuke was leaving Orochimaru, he had been relieved, which had been noticed by the two that came with him. When they asked him about it, they had been in the company of Kisame, and the shark was only power hungry, so he was… disposed of. Then he had overhead Sasuke's conversation with his teammates and was happy to hear that he didn't want vengeance anymore.

Underneath his cloak, the Sharingan-user smiled. He had his brother back and had two good friends, even if they were missing-nins, and he felt at peace, if only for a little while. Orochimaru would be coming for Sasuke and Akatsuki would be one their way to get the Kyuubi and kill them. _Might as well enjoy it while it lasts…

* * *

_

AN: I _had_ meant for this story to be just a oneshot, but I just to thinking, what would happen if… and just started writing again. (I _hate_ it when I do that.)

I won't be updating this regularly… hell, I don't update ANYTHING regularly, but I_ do _try. I had a lot of stuff written up that I just got to type, so that's why everything is taking so long. bow Gomen!

Review Please! Thanks for Reading! And _please_ tell me if I should even bother continuing this.


	3. Chapter 3

Brothers Then, Brothers Now

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, I wouldn't be using my brother's computer 'cause mine keeps crashin' on me for no other reason than to drive me insane.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun, come on! We're going to be late!" Sakura huffed and opened the door she had previously been pounding on. Since her teammate had come back, he hadn't been opposed to anyone coming to visit him anymore, if anything, he encouraged it, in his own subtle way.

The kunoichi heard some scuffling in another room and started down the hall after closing the door. "Sasuke-kun?" She found him lying on his stomach on top of a couch, with his eyes closed from exhaustion. "Mou, you were training, again last night, weren't you?" She knelt down by the couch and placed a hand on his head, running it through his hair a little.

The Uchiha groaned and looked up at her tiredly. "Tell Kakashi that I'm sick or something; I can't do much at all today." Before he left, he wouldn't have showed his much weakness to anyone, but he was much more open to his team now and Sakura found that she was happier with him this way.

She nodded and smiled sympathetically. "Alright; get some rest; we're going to have a C-rank mission tomorrow." She smoothed his hair a little and stood up.

Another groan answered her and he rolled over, throwing an arm over his eyes. "Joy." She laughed and walked out, quietly shutting the door behind her. "You guys are slave-drivers."

The three former Akatsuki member came out of the shadows, smiling slightly. "Aw, it's not that bad, Otouto." Itachi was smirking in amusement, though his eyes showed some sympathy for the younger Uchiha.

They had all been training together the night before, and things didn't come as easily for Sasuke as they had for the missing-nin, but they did come more easily for him than they would for many others. They had learned also the extent of Naruto's stamina.

The jinchuuriki had found out Sasuke's roommates about a week after they had moved in; he said that he could smell them, but the night before had been the first time that he had joined them for training. No doubt the blonde would only feel a little sore from the training thanks to Kyuubi, who he had told them wasn't half-bad once you got past the insults and death-threats.

"Maybe for you and the dope, but…" He groaned when he tried to sit up and only ended up falling back. "Maybe I should have had Sakura heal me at least a little…"

Deidara smiled. "I could go get her, un."

Sasori hit him upside the head, ignoring his whining from the action. "Baka. She's probably with the Copy-nin by now, and he'd be able to see through a genjutsu." He gestured to his room and a puppet walked out and bowed to them. "I can send him, if you wish."

Itachi nodded and watched the puppet leave before sitting at his brother's head and looking down at him fondly. "Perhaps it is time that someone else knew about us…"

Sasuke looked back up at him and nodded.

* * *

"Naruto?" The jinchuuriki turned around to find one of Sasori's puppets behind him, seeming to everyone else to be a normal person.

"Oh, hey, Sasori." He grinned, knowing that the puppet master would see it. "What's the matter?" He also knew that the three missing-nin wouldn't send out anything that could possibly get them caught unless something was wrong.

A small upturn of the puppet's lips revealed Sasori's amusement. "It seems that Sasuke is in a bit of pain from training last night, thank fully, you are not in the same condition." Naruto's fox-like grin grew even more and he put his hands behind his head. "If possible, it would be appreciated if you could bring Sakura-san to help with that." The puppet bowed and began to walk away, leaving Naruto to wave after it a little before turning to continue to the meeting place to find Sakura.

Amazingly, Kakashi was already there, and seemed serious about something. Catching the word 'Akatsuki' caused Naruto to tense._ Uh-oh…_ "Ne, Sakura-chan! You can heal sore muscles, right?"

The kunoichi looked up and nodded. "Oh good. Come on; Teme needs some help." Before she could respond, the blonde was dragging her back the way he had come.

Kakashi watched through a narrowed eye. "What are you and Sasuke, hiding, Naruto?" After a few moments he sighed and started after them discreetly. "It's a good thing that there aren't any missions today."

* * *

"Mou, Naruto, if he needed help so badly, why didn't he tell me when I was there earlier?" Naruto shrugged and continued walking, glancing to the side every now and then. Something was telling him that there was something out of place which was only reinforced by Kyuubi's warning.

_**Whoever is following you doesn't mean any harm yet, and they seem familiar, but you better keep your friends out of sight for now.**_ Naruto nodded slightly and discreetly made a clone to go ahead and warn them while nodding to whatever it was that Sakura was saying, not really caring much.

_Let's hope nothing goes wrong…_

_I wonder what Hinata-chan is up to…_ Kyuubi sweat-dropped.

* * *

Deidara was sitting on the porch to their home, molding his clay into various shapes to decorate their humble abode with when he saw the Naruto clone running toward him. Seeing the serious expression the other blonde's face, he set the clay aside and stood up. "What wrong, un?"

The clone stopped in front of him and was panting a little in exertion. "Someone's following Sakura and me, so you guys need to hide, but be ready for a battle if need b; I can't tell who it is." After seeing the missing-nin nod, the clone dissipated with a poof.

Deidara grabbed his clay and ran into the house.

* * *

"Naruto! Are you even listening to me?" The kunoichi hit him upside the head to gain his attention. "Baka! I asked you if you knew why Sasuke-kun was so sore."

Naruto rubbed his head and glared at her lightly. "Iie; only that he was training…" _With me, Itachi, Sori and Dei…_ He saw her go deep into her own thoughts and sighed. "I'm sure he'll be fine by the end of the day."

Sakura nodded. "We're here."

They entered the Uchiha district quietly and made their way to Sasuke's house. "Oi, Teme! I brought Sakura-chan!" His loud voice alerted everyone inside as he walked into the living room where Sasuke was still resting. "Aw, come on, Teme; it can't be that bad." A playful smirk was on his face while his rival just glared at him.

"Says you, Dope." Sasuke struggled to sit up and let out a deep breath. "You guys come alone?" Naruto paused and focused on finding a chakre signature that wasn't meant to be there. He found the missing-nin's, well-masked, and quickly passed them. There was nothing; whoever it was had left, but they could come back.

"Yeah, we're alone, but we may not be for long." Sakura looked at him curiously then to Sasuke who nodded and picked up a kunai, throwing it to a door. "Now, _please_ don't scream, Sakura-chan."

Before she could ask what was going on, three figures stepped out of the hidden doors or shadows. The kunoichi's eyes widened and she would have screamed if Naruto hadn't clapped a hand over her mouth. "Hello, Sakura-san." Itachi nodded to her before moving to sit beside his otouto. "Thank you for coming."

Sakura leaned back and grumbled. "Don't let him fool you, Sakura; he may seem polite but he's really a slave-driver." Naruto grinned in agreement and turned to greet Deidara and Sasori.

Sakura stared at them in horror but Sasuke smiled slightly at her, so she tried to relax, if only to prove that she wasn't a coward. Then again, who wouldn't be afraid of three powerful S-class criminals. "They're friends, Sakura. Aniki and the others aren't going to harm anyone; they just need a place to stay for now."

Itachi nodded thoughtfully. "It would take some time to get the Hokage to agree for us to take refuge here." He turned to watch the two blondes argue over who knows what and smirked slightly. "Then again, it wouldn't take too long if we played our cards right."

Sakura shifted uneasily, uncomfortable with the way he watched Naruto as he said that. _They wouldn't kidnap Naruto for that, would they?_ She shook her head before walking over to Sasuke, keeping an eye on his brother all the while. "So… you guys are who Sasuke was training with?" Sasori nodded before saving Naruto from making a fool of himself by dragging Deidara into a… 'discussion' about 'art.' "Sugoi… no wonder you're so sore, Sasuke-kun."

The younger Uchiha grunted sleepily, focusing mostly on the warmth of her chakre flowing through him. He caught his brother's faint chuckle and shot him a glare before childishly sticking his tongue out at him.

Itachi merely raised an amused eyebrow before focusing on Sakura again, engaging her in a conversation. Faintly, he noticed his brother fall back to sleep and decided to let him sleep this time; he could taunt him about his 'girlfriend' later. She was good for him, and from what he understood, loved him dearly, she just didn't act on her feelings as much anymore.

His Sharingan caught a flash of chakre nearby and abruptly stood up, careful not to wake Sasuke. "Sasori, Deidara, hide; we have company."

Naruto focused on the approaching chakre signatures and sighed, standing up. He looked back at the others as he started walking to the door. "It's a couple of the rookies." He was speaking to both Sakura and the now invisible missing-nin. "I'll head them off at the door and you can come when you're finished, Sakura-chan; we'll let Teme rest and keep the others from getting suspicious."

The kunoichi nodded and listened to his footsteps, followed closely by voices. She easily recognized Ino's loud voice and guessed the others to be Chouji and Shikamaru.

Finishing her work, Sakura forgot that there were three missing-nin watching her. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to Sasuke's cheek lightly. "Sleep well, Sasuke-kun." She stood up to follow Naruto, missing Sasuke's mumbling.

Itachi smirked as he heard his brother mumble in his sleep, something about Sakura. _It's so fun to have blackmail on my baby brother…_

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AN: Wow... I actually updated. Amazing, ne? The next chapter is probably going to be a long way coming, but it'll be different than the rest; I'm bringing Hinata into the picture. XD Thank you for reading and please leave me a review!


	4. Chapter 4

Brothers Then, Brothers Now

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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"Do you think they'll be alright for a whole week or more?" Sasuke sighed as Sakura whispered the question going through his and Naruto's minds as well. _Would _the missing-nin be alright? He had left a lot of food behind when they set out on the C-rank mission, so he knew they would be fine there. Itachi was with them and they were smart enough not to get caught so he would assume that they were fine in that area too. But still... 

Even after his brother revealed his blackmail material, Sasuke couldn't help but worry. Kakashi had almost caught them training a couple times since he nearly followed Naruto and Sakura the day she found out about his roommates, and probably already knew, he just didn't say anything. Kakashi was loyal to Konoha, and though it was something Sasuke admired about him, it still worried him that their teacher may tell the Hokage.

"They'll be fine, Sakura." _I hope…_

* * *

"N-Naruto-k-kun? Sasuke-s-san?" The Hyuuga heiress knocked on the door to the Uchiha manor hesitantly, hoping that she wasn't making a fool out of herself by coming here; she had just wanted to get away from the other Hyuuga for a while. She gulped nervously and opened the door, wondering why they had left it unlocked. Naruto all but lived in the manor now and most of his things were there. "Naruto-k-kun? S-Sasuke-san?"

"You really shouldn't stutter so much; it makes everyone think that you're weak, un." Hinata whirled around and gasped at the blonde grinning at her, he was a lot like Naruto. "You must be Hinata, un." He laughed slightly at her fearful surprise. "Naruto-baka told me about you, un. My name's Deidara, un."

Pale eyes grew wider in terrified shock. "D-Deid-d-dara of A-Akat-suki?" Her voice came out in a squeak.

"We are no longer part of Akatsuki, and you shouldn't call Naruto a baka when you yourself are one, Deidara." Hinata whirled around again to face a boy with red hair standing in the doorway, he reminded her of the Kazekage, Gaara. "We are currently here to help Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura as well, on occasion." He bowed politely to her. "I am Akasuna-no-Sasori. Naruto speaks highly of you, Hinata-sama."

Her face became red at the last part and she twiddled her fingers, though she was still scared. "Both of our otouto are on a mission as of now, Hinata-san, but you may remain here as long as you like." A dark-haired male walked out of the shadows and nodded to her respectfully. "I am Uchiha Itachi."

Hinata was shaking in fear now. There were three extremely powerful missing-nin before her, all of whom happened to be extremely attractive. Once she realized where her thoughts had taken her, all the color that had rushed to her face at Sasori's comment drained from it completely, leaving her as pale as a sheet.

"Hinata-chan?" Deidara appeared in front of her with a worried expression on his face. "Are you alright? You're really pale, un."

She shakily nodded her head and tried to back away, the familiarity was making her really uncomfortable. Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly and stepped forward. "Hinata-san, you wish to become stronger so you can reunite your clan, correct?" An even shakier nod was his response and his eyes softened slightly. "If you wish, we may train you for the time-being, seeing as Naruto and Sasuke are away; perhaps, even after they return, we can continue."

The heiress' eyes were filled with awe as she looked at the elder shinobi. Sasori nodded his agreement and Deidara was grinning. A small smile appeared on her face as she looked to the floor. Even if they were missing-nin, it was an honor to be seen as worthy to train under them - they _were_ three of the most powerful shinobi alive. "A-arig-gatou…"

Deidara grinned even more. "Lesson One: No more stuttering, un!"

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Hinata looked at Itachi apologetically when he scowled. She had just told him that her clan didn't approve of any other fighting style than their own. It wasn't a rule that she was fond of, _she_ liked learning new things. Finally, Itachi sighed. "Then we're going to have to break that rule."

The Hyuuga's eyes widened in shock. "N-nani?" A flick to the head from the blonde beside her reprimanded her for the slight stutter. In her opinion, that was the only thing she had improved in the past week; when she had spoken to her father without stuttering once, she had seen the shock in nearly everyone's eyes and the flash of approval in his. When she had seen Deidara the next day, she had promptly glomped him, smiling happily.

"Hinata," she looked back up to meet Itachi's unwavering gaze. "You will not have to use any of what we teach you, however, we do expect you to take what you learn and meld it with the Hyuuga style, modifying it and making it work more efficiently." His eyes darkened slightly with memories. "There may be a day when someone finds a weakness in the style or finds a way to counter it; if that happens, you will be able to use what you have learned to fix it."

Hinata nodded and let them begin guiding her through the moves of a different style, her mind already working on ways to adapt it to the Jyuuken.

She enjoyed being with the three of them; they didn't care that she was shy and self-conscious, though Deidara was working on building her confidence to a more appropriate level. Itachi never degraded her and was patient with her as he explained how a jutsu worked. And Sasori was quiet and respectful and would help her with her family issues, and she had several.

She was looking forward to seeing Naruto again since he was coming back with the others in a few days, but she would miss being able to be with her teachers one-on-one.

"Great job, Hina-chan! You're a quick learner, un!" The heiress laughed as Deidara grinned and hugged her while the other two watched them with amusement.

* * *

Team 7 sat at a table in a restaurant on the way back to Konoha, eating their meal quietly, well, as quietly as you could with Naruto slurping down everything. Kakashi watched his genin and waited until they all had food or their drink in their mouths. "So… when were you going to tell me that there were three missing-nin at the manor?" He laughed as all of them choked and began coughing.

Seeing Sasuke's worried eyes turn to him, the Copy-nin couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry; no one will hear about them from me. Those who betray their friends are worse than trash, remember?"

The three genin sighed in relief and Sasuke smiled his thanks. The scarecrow merely gave them an eyes smile before pulling out his little orange book, giggling occasionally, causing them all to sweat-drop.

* * *

Hinata sat at the dinner table quietly, as always. She had pretty much been forced to spar with Neji by her father, and though he didn't try to kill her this time, the branch member hadn't help back in the slightest. She had to hide her smile as she remembered their shocked faces when she was able to pin her cousin.

Neji had been shocked but smiled at her as he surrendered, pride in his eyes. Hanabi had looked at her in awe and asked if she could teach her. Hiashi had remained silent, nodding his head only once before walking away without a second glance.

After showering, Hinata had practically flown to the Uchiha compound and glomped her teachers, smiling happily. They had congratulated her, Deidara picking her up and spinning her around in joy, and invited her to dinner the next evening since the others would be back. Speaking of which… "I will be dining at a friend's tomorrow evening, so I will not be here; I apologize for any inconvenience, Otou-sama."

Hiashi glanced at her before returning to his meal. Neji looked at her worriedly for a moment before giving her a small smile. Hanabi was surprised that she was spending more time away, but she was happy for her onee-chan all the same.

Finishing, she excused herself quietly and went to her room. She couldn't wait for tomorrow to see the others and show them how much she had improved, but… her eyes saddened as she thought about what their return would mean. She wouldn't be able to train with them anymore – she was too far below Sasuke's and Naruto's level. She sighed and buried her face in her pillow. _It was nice while it lasted._

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AN: I liked this chapter, and I hoped the rest of you did as well. I told you there would be a lot of Hinata in there. Please review and tell me what you think.

Okay, I will NOT be updating ANYTHING for the next month or so, gomen nazai. I might type the stuff up, but I won't be writing anything else, because I am participating in 'National Novel Writing Month,' which is November. It's pretty much where you have to write a story with 50,000 words by the end of the month. If you want anymore info, go to www . na no wri mo . org just take out the spaces. Wish me luck!


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